Crew tactical review: Columbus battles Houston to a scoreless draw at home

The Columbus Crew returned home on the weekend to face off against the Houston Dynamo at Lower.com Field. After a crushing 3-0 loss to LAFC in the opening leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16, Columbus needed a pick-me-up. The Black & Gold would not get a better chance than facing the bottom-dwelling Dynamo at home.

In a game that the Crew dominated, the contest would end scoreless with both teams sharing points. Columbus had opportunities to take the lead but could not find the breakthrough to claim all three points. After a disappointing showing at LAFC and now tying at home with the lowly Dynamo, the Black & Gold find themselves in an early-season rut with Wilfried Nancy looking for answers.

It was a relaxing game for the scoreboard operator, so let’s dive into the tactics that saw these two sides leave finish in a draw.

Columbus’ unique strategy and shapes

When the Crew watched the tape from the loss to LAFC, they saw a thoroughly uninspiring offensive performance. That poor outing allowed LAFC to bag three goals on the counter and send Columbus home with their tail tucked between their legs.

After reviewing this most recent matchup with Houston, the Black & Gold are taking important steps. While the Crew did not look like Nancy’s 2023 MLS Cup winning squad, Columbus made strides in the attacking sector. But before we get ahead of ourselves with the narrative about the Black & Gold’s offense, let’s look at the Crew’s shape and game plan.

Columbus came out of the locker room in their normal shape, but that quickly morphed into a new formation that has not been utilized this season: a 1-4-5.

Yevhen Cheberko stayed deep as the lone center back, while Malte Amundsen and Andres Herrera moved into outside midfielder/half-pivot roles. Between the converted wide midfielders sat Darlington Nagbe and Sean Zawadzki. The front five remained fluid, but there was a little tweak to it.

The interior attackers consisting of Diego Rossi, Dylan Chambost and Jacen Russell-Rowe sat deeper than Mo Farsi and Max Arfsten out on the wings. Since Herrera and Amundsen were already in wide midfielder positions, the wingbacks could push the Dynamo backline further up the pitch to create that space underneath.

Because of this aggressive positioning by the wingbacks, the front three inside sat a bit deeper to help out with the midfield duties in the buildup. So technically while this formation was a base 1-4-5, it looked more like a 1-4-3-2 with the top two being the wingbacks.

This was the offensive shape that Columbus stayed in for most of the game. Of course, as it is in any Nancy system, there were subtle changes that reflected a 2-3-5 of later a 1-3-6 when AZ Jackson came on for Darlington Nagbe, but the formation almost always reverted to the 1-4-5.

So that was the general shape the Crew lined up in throughout the game, but the offensive focus was different. Houston defended in a 4-2-4 high and then dropped into a 4-4-2 low block, so Columbus had to figure out how to unlock another low block. The solution for Nancy was to attack the width, overload wide areas and then switch the point of attack to the other flank quickly to catch the defense napping. The Dynamo did not have a wide defensive base in a natural four-back system, so shifting them was easy if the Crew could switch the ball fast enough.

Some of the best attacking chances happened this way. The ball would be out in a wide area and the Houston defense would move over to cover, and then the switch would come through Nagbe or Zawadzki. If Columbus could get the ball to the opposing wingback and then have the outside centerback overlap, space would open up in behind.

The emphasis on attacking the wide spaces through the wingbacks and overlapping outside centerbacks freed up some good crossing opportunities, but the fact is that the Crew just could not find that final pass.

The gameplan was sound and, to an extent, it worked. The Crew had multiple promising attacking chances and looks on goal, but the second-to-last or final pass was just not there. That has been the main struggle this season for Columbus, that final combination of play to cap off a move.

Fans of the Black & Gold should be encouraged, not outraged. The Crew responded well and were just unlucky not to find a goal, which is not usually the case under Nancy. It is still very early in the season, so no reason to press the panic button just yet.

How can the Crew improve?

The main points of growth for this Columbus team needs to come at both ends of the pitch. We have talked a little bit about the offensive improvement, but beyond the final one or two passes there are areas where the Black & Gold need to clean up.

The first is utilizing the midfield during build ups. Too often the Crew are one-dimensional in their build up which is allows opposing teams to key in and adjust. Columbus loves to use their wingbacks and outside center backs to build up from out wide, but the midfield is often wide open to attack. If the Black & Gold can work from outside to inside and take the space that is given, teams will be left guessing whether to guard the flanks or interior.

The other glaring issue is the decision-making on offense. The Crew go through phases where they are too focused with retaining possession that they miss opportunities to go at goal. If you watch Nancy on the sideline this past game against Houston, you can see his frustration at times when the ball is recycled instead of played into an attacking position.

For a team that is built on playing beautiful, bold and brash soccer, Columbus looks timid in the attacking third from time to time. To win games the Black & Gold will need to get that boldness back and rely on their re-press to win the ball back if it is lost finding those attacking chances.

Finally, the last glaring offensive issue that is a hot-button topic in the Crew community right now is the loss of offensive talent. Fans will want to talk about Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez, but I think this team is really missing Alexandru Matan as well.

Matan was one of those players who was quick, could play in the midfield or on the wing and was a crafty combination in the final third with the other attackers. Columbus is missing a player who can beat a defender and start off a combination in the attacking half. Matan was quietly invaluable at doing that for the Black & Gold under Nancy, so the offensive questions marks go beyond “who can play striker?”.

On defense, the biggest improvement will be limiting turnovers and moving the ball quicker. Rudy Camacho is a piece that this team desperately misses right now. Cheberko has filled in fairly well but has been shaky in possession and is often too slow with the ball at his feet.

Again, reducing mistakes and becoming comfortable will come with time as the early-season rust is knocked off, but Columbus cannot keep hemorrhaging goals off dumb mistakes at the back.

The season is only three games old, but there is still a lot of work that can be done. Nancy will not be focused on simply getting results in March but grabbing wins when it counts in the summer and fall as well.